There Are Rivers in the Sky: A novel Hardcover – Deckle Edge, August 20, 2024

I’m not sure why I selected this novel but “There are Rivers in the Sky” is the best book I’ve read in past two or three years. It is an original story revolving around lives of three main characters from different centuries and different cultures. It is centered in London and the Levant region with the Thames, Tigris and Euphrates Rivers tying things together. It sounds like it shouldn’t work, but I found it was a page turner that is brilliantly constructed. Only occasionally do I feel I have struck it rich with a book of fiction. This is one of those books. This really is a 5 star read.

4.5 stars, really, but I've decided to round down instead of up.I read "The Architect's Apprentice" last year and was enthralled. The author's ability to take me to another world and time, and to write so beautifully and captivatingly were astonishing. So when I saw the great reviews this book received, particularly on Amazon, I was sold.In "There Are Rivers in the Sky" Ms. Shafak does it again; she is a fabulous story-teller, and once again she takes us to other worlds and times - and in this case it's multiple worlds and times: London in the 1800s, Mesopotamia in pre-history and at various other times, etc., and brings the stories together more or less seamlessly. Her writing is lush and engrossing. I can see how she may become one of my favorite authors.So why not a 5? Well, the work is a bit too much; it is too full of metaphors and similes, using several where one or even two would suffice. Also, Ms. Shafak seems insistent to make all sorts of points, particularly in the last section of the book, where organ "harvesting" and other issues are brought into the plot. While they are worthy subjects, introducing them in the final pages comes across as an afterthought that just doesn't work. Finally, there are sections of the book that seemed a bit overlong and pointless.Still, it's a very VERY worthwhile book that I encourage others to read and savor, and I will continue to read her books.

This story touched me deeply. Even though Amazon asks for a minimum number of words, there is actually nothing more to say.

This book is BRILLIANT, a masterpiece, but no surprise there as it’s by Elif Shafak. It will sweep you away across centuries and continents—ancient Mesopotamia, Victorian London, and the bustling streets of today.At its heart are three unforgettable characters: Narin, a Yazidi girl caught in an unimaginable but very real, urgent, & heartbreaking situation; Arthur, (a Victorian boy loosely inspired by the real guy who translated Cuneiform tablets from Nineveh) who brings the mysteries of the Epic of Gilgamesh to light while grappling with his own isolation; and Zaleekhah, a modern-day hydrologist in London, navigating divorce while uncovering the ways water binds human history. Each character is shaped by their time yet transcends it, showing how our stories and struggles are universally linked.There are sooo many themes explored here: genocide, displacement, refugee experiences, memory & storytelling, historical continuity, family, the power of knowledge, and a lot on who owns history / who gets to or should keep artifacts etc.I couldn’t put it down!

Great story. So much related with life and choices.

Beautiful writing. An old story told for today. Achievements in each generation, as each generation also has sad, protracted failures. Water is the center of the story. The life giver on our sad planet.

I commend the author for her research. It was interesting and saddening to learn of the Yazidis, something that was touched on in the news back in the days of ISIS, but not fully understood. And learning a bit about Ancient Mesopatamia and the Epic of Gilgamesh was fascinating.But the concept of a water drop traversing through time is a trite and gratuitous mechanism to use, and deliberately ignores the physics of water; meaning that a drop will not stay cohesive over time. Water evaporates and becomes a gas and the molecules scatter. The chances of even two molecules (out of billions) from water drops thousands of years apart remaining together is vanishingly remote. It seems like a nitpick but just makes the the whole thing seem amateurish or something a grade-schooler would come up with.Also, the author allows no opportunity to use a water analogy to go unpunished. Water, water, water. Water this and water that. Water analogies everywhere. And even when we know it's water due to describing a river, rain or snow, the author still has to tell us that it is water. She beats us over the head with water. It's too much! I found myself rolling my eyes more and more as I read the book.The book is too long and becomes a slog. I only finished it because we were reading it in a book club. And after all that effort the ending just fell completely flat.5 stars for the research, 1 star for the story for an average of 3 stars.